Sucking her teeth she asked, “How long you gon’ be avoiding me, NeNe? I?—“
“I need to go,” I interrupted. “Have fun. Pour up for me too.”
With that, I hung up and switched my phone to DND.
On my way down to the lobby, Shar got onto the elevator. When she saw me, her eyes widened and she gave me an awkward smile.
“Hey, Mrs. M,” Shar spoke, before pivoting, facing forward.
I wasn’t in the mood to talk work since I was getting ready to leave but something told me to check in with her.
“Hey,” I spoke. “How’s everything going with Mr. Carter?”
She quickly glanced over at me, scratched at her eyelid, and said, “Umm. Pretty good, I guess. Things are moving along.”
“You guess?” I questioned with a raised brow. “Is something wrong?”
She took a deep breath and turned to face me. “Mahogany… working with Mr. Carter has been a little… challenging. But rest assured… I’m handling it. Things are getting done and?—“
“Challenging how? How is he any different from anyone else on his team. Weren’t you on the other project with Brenda?”
“Yes, I was and well… it’s… it’s Crescent Carter. That’s all. He’s different from Mavis. I—I’m handling it. It’s just a bit intimidating working with him. Don’t worry, I have it.”
I didn’t say anything. Didn’t think much of it neither. Didn’t feel like it. Shifted my eyes up at the illuminating numbers as the elevator descended to the main floor. I was tired. Did not have it in me to micromanage anyone. Didn’t feel like reminding Shar of how important it was to get this job with Crescent right. I’d talk with her eventually. Today, when my workday was over, just wasn’t the time. Any other day, during a time where Diary was still a secret, I would have addressed Shar then. Would have called an emergency meeting. But… I was tired.
The elevator doors opened, I told Shardae to have a good night and continued out of the building. On my way, I had to put on a smile, wishing my employees a good night. When smilingwas the last thing, I felt like doing. I was stoic. Flat. Empty. But here, I couldn’t be. Here, I had to be Mahogany the beaming boss. Thank God the day was over.
When I got into the car, the gravity of reality hit me. I had to go home. And when I got home, he’d be there. I twisted the steering wheel with anger. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to go to happy hour. I looked down at the time on my phone and decided I’d work a little more. Spend time going over Crescent’s file since Shar didn’t seem to know what the fuck she was doing. Yeah… a few more hours at work wouldn’t hurt. Right? I… I really did not want to go home.
Instead of getting right out of the car to go back up, I sat there and watched everyone else leave. Once the building was empty, I got out of the car and headed back up. I stayed at work for three extra hours going over files, renders, and leaving notes for designers. I saved The House of Nova Ray for last. When I got to it, I was shocked. Shardae hadn’t done much of anything. She swapped a couple of design concepts out and added black. I left her a lot of notes. I was highly disappointed but… what did I expect? Her to go in it and work like me? She was a great designer, but she wasn’t me.
He called. Duke. I talked to him for about three minutes, asked him to get dinner and help with any homework. Told him the days I took off left me severely behind. The kids called too and I told them the same thing.
After those three hours went by, I still didn’t want to go home. I hesitated to leave my office. Stood there, in the middle of the floor, gripping my purse, stuck. The office was eerily quiet. The only other time I’d been at the office this late was when I was with Crescent. Never alone. And although it was eerie, I felt at peace. Like… I could stay there all night. I wanted to. Didn’t want to go home. Didn’t want to see his face or hear his voice. Was tired of putting on. Was tired of pretending.
I swallowed. Leaned on the heel of my shoe as my feet began to ache. Looking over at the closet, I walked off to grab a pair of Crocs I had sitting in it. As I changed my shoes, I thought about calling Emerald. Thought about crashing at her house. Maybe I’d tell the kids I lost track of time and… then it hit me.
I stopped sliding out of my heels.
I wasn’t going home.
Wasn’t going over to Emerald’s neither.
I was going to Pandora’s.
“I needyou to do me a favor?—“
“Here you go,” Sienna interrupted. “You didn’t want to go to Happy Hour but you?—
“Mind your business, Si. Damn,” I cut her off, as I pulled up to a gate.
Before I left the office, I freshened up and got rid of the suit coat. Wished I had me an outfit on standby the way I had those Crocs, but I didn’t. So, instead of my usual sexy get up, I was dressed in a burgundy silky button up top, a pair of tight cream-colored slacks, and my nude Dior pumps. Very business casual. But I didn’t give a damn, and I was sure that the man I fucked wouldn’t care neither.
“How you telling me to mind my business when you asking me to cover for you?” She paused. “Look. I know shit crazy right now but?—“
“But nothing. I was with you. If anybody asks, Sienna. I was with you.”
“Your iPad isn’t here.”
